Undaunted by terror attack, senior citizens from Pune continue with J&K tour

Pune: Tuesday's terror attack in Pahalgam failed to throw a spanner in the travel plans of a group of senior citizens from the city on a tour of Jammu and Kashmir. Throwing caution to the winds, the group from Aundh, comprising retired teachers and homemakers, visited tourist places in the valley on Wednesday. "They wanted to send out a message that fear won't affect their zeal for travel.

They don't want to get bogged down by such attacks. Hence, they decided to continue with their tour as per the schedule," said Aniruddha Barathe, founder, Archana Tours, who coordinated the tour of senior citizens' group. According to Barathe, the group visited the Shankaracharya Temple in Srinagar district.



They also wanted to visit Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, but were not allowed due to security concerns. "The situation quickly turned worrisome after the news of the attack broke. But we, along with our tour operator, decided to take a courageous stand and complete the tour," said Pramila Zurange, a homemaker and a senior citizen.

All the members of the group, between 69 and 75 years, belong to Senior Citizens Club of Aundh. "The terror attack was very cowardly. We made up our minds and decided that we will not leave J&K out of fear.

The group members supported each other. After assessing security issues and other factors, we decided to visit Shankaracharya Temple," said Atmaram Jadhav, a retired teacher. As per the tour itinerary, the members visited several places during the tour, including Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Lal Chowk, Dal Lake, and other local spots.

They had to cancel their Pehalgam visit due to security reasons..